Shadows
by Yuki Kaminari
Summary: Sakura finds herself out of Konoha. She knows that she may never return to see her friends again. Then, she meets Akasuna no Sasori, who may just be the one to save her from her past, and help her forget. SasoSaku
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But Masashi Kishimoto does.

This is my first fanfiction, so sorry if it is really crappy. I decided to do a SasoSaku because it is one of my most favorite pairings. Please review.

–Yuki Kaminari-

* * *

**Shadows**

Sakura's breath caught in her throat as she ran.

As she ran away from her past. From the memories. From the guilty, burning sensations etched in her being.

Her pink hair flew into her face, but she made no effort to brush it away. She didn't care anymore.

What had she done? Did she really betray Konoha? Did she really stoop down to the level of missing-nin?

Yes. She did. She had killed a group of innocent villagers. Although the Hokage was her Shishou, Tsunade, Sakura knew that she could never be forgiven. She would never be regarded with the same respect as before. They would all consider her a murderer. She would be forced to look into her friend's eyes and see pain, confusion, and mistrust.

Anbu would come after her…if they weren't out already. Her fate was decided. She was alone, with no friends, no possessions except for the clothes on her back, and no hope.

She sat down, against a nearby rock, continuing to let her salty tears drip down her face. So this is how it was meant to end for her. As a low-life, a friendless traitor.

What was the point of living if her life was to be this miserable? She looked up at the sky, her emerald eyes dull and tired. The stars seemed to glow brighter than before. _They sure are beautiful._ She mused, thinking of how unchanged certain things could remain. Like the stars. They were always to be a source of beauty, of grandeur, and of mystery. Life would continue on without her. The sun would continue to shine, and then set in the evening. Her friends would eventually forget…such was the human mind. And she would be but a distant memory to all.

She leaned back against the rock, drying the last of her tears. Faint voices could be heard in the distance. Her eyes scanned the area, but she was too tired to defend herself. The intruders were probably Anbu sent out to kill her. The girl let her eyes close again, and she patiently awaited her death.

A few minutes passed, and nothing happened. When she finally reopened her eyes, she found herself confronted by two men. Their cloaks looked darkly familiar. She scowled, looking up at their hidden faces.

"Akatsuki."

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The first chapter is really short, but I will try to make the other ones longer. I hope you enjoyed it so far!!

Again, please review.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters- but Masashi Kishimoto does.

Here is the next chapter- I promise it will be longer than the first.

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Sakura held her breath. She knew that she was completely at their mercy. They must have realized that too…so why weren't they attacking?

Her breathing accelerated as two stepped closer to her, taking off their hats. Instantaneously, she recognized them. Akasuna no Sasori and Deidara.

The blonde eyed her with an interested expression. His mouth turned up in a lopsided smile. Sakura could sense that he had no intention of hurting her there. He looked merely…curious.

On the other hand, Sasori manifested only coldness and impatience. He glared at her with piercing russet eyes, and she found herself cringing backwards, trying to get as far away from him as possible.

"Well?" Deidara turned to his partner expectantly.

Sasori shrugged. "We could take her back…I suppose a medic would be useful…or we could just dispose of her, and save ourselves the trouble." His tone grew sharper, and he turned back to glare at the pink-haired girl. Sakura closed her green eyes.

Both options were disastrous for her. She, though technically a criminal, could not bear to join the Akatsuki, after going against them for so long.

"A medic would be useful, un." Deidara nodded.

"Then again… it might be too much of a bother to get her to be loyal." Sasori interjected, scowling.

"Might be worth a shot, though."

Sasori thought for a moment, before giving his response. "It might be…"

Sakura, despite her weak position, stood up. "No!" Her voice rang out loudly and defiantly. She shook from emotion.

Deidara sighed. "Looks like she doesn't want to come." He glanced at Sasori, expectant of his partner's response.

"Then we'll make her."

The puppeteer's silky voice was the last thing Sakura heard before she succumbed to a state of unconsciousness.

* * *

When she woke up, she found herself in an austere white room, with a blue-haired woman next to her.

"Ah, good. You are awake." The woman smiled down at Sakura. "You must be Sakura Haruno, right?"

Sakura was unsure as to whether or not to respond. She still felt dizzy, and could not risk speaking, for fear of giving away something important. Fortunately, the woman assumed that she was indeed Sakura Haruno, and dropped the question altogether.

The two sat there in silence for a while, until the door opened slowly, and a familiar figure stepped in.

"She's awake?" Deidara questioned, grinning.

"Get out." The woman commanded, glaring at the blonde.

"Just a minute." He muttered. "You spoken to leader-sama yet?"

"Yes. The girl can stay, but she must remain in the headquarters for a while. Now get _out_."

"Okay, okay." Deidara held his hands up, and backed out of the room, still grinning.

The woman rolled her eyes in disbelief, and shook her head. "Baka." Turning to Sakura, though, her expression changed back to one of kindness. "I'm Konan, by the way. Now that you are awake, I will show you around."

Sakura nodded dazedly, and stood up. Konan seemed nice enough. _No! This is the Akatsuki. They're S-class criminals. They are your enemies! They can't be 'nice'. What about your friends in Konoha? Have you forgotten about them already?_ Sakura looked down, a cheerless expression on her face. She numbly followed Konan out of the room, and paid attention only halfway as the blue-haired woman showed her the different parts of the headquarters. She could not concentrate much, not while bitter memories were rushing through her mind. Not while her mind was back in Konoha, back with Naruto, and Kakashi. Back to her training with Tsunade, even back to when Team Seven was whole again, and Sasuke was still the boy she had fallen in love with.

As they stopped at every room, Sakura became aware of the mistrusting gazes of the rest of the Akatsuki. They portrayed an immediate dislike of her, and justly so. She was a newcomer, and for all they knew, still fully loyal to Konoha. They had every right to hate her.

Her gaze lingered on every one of them. She tried not to let her fear of them show, but they could probably feel it anyway.

After Konan finished showing Sakura around, she turned to the girl. "There. You should be able to find your way around easily enough. If any of these idiots starts to bother you, let me know, okay?"

Sakura nodded, and watched as Konan disappeared, leaving her to face the Akatsuki. She spun around, and was faced with a pair of dull reddish-brown eyes.

Sasori stepped back, watching her warily. Sakura held eye contact with him, surprised by their close proximity. They remained there, in silence, for a few moments, until Sasori looked away.

"Konan showed you around?" His tone did not hold the same malice as earlier. Sakura looked up at him in confusion, and then nodded.

"Yes."

"Good." Sasori nodded, and began walking away from her. He stopped short, though, when he heard an explosion coming from one of the rooms. Deidara stepped out, looking frazzled.

"What happened?" The malice was back in Sasori's voice as he looked at his partner disapprovingly. Deidara managed to grin back at him.

"Art, un."

"I would hardly call those explosions art, Deidara."

"You have your opinion and I have mine." Deidara smirked "Mine's just better."

Sakura found herself smiling, despite herself. Sasori looked like he wanted to strangle poor Deidara. The blonde caught that, and prudently stepped back, looking at Sasori worriedly.

"Uh, sorry, un." Deidara rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

Sasori glared at him. "You are testing my patience, Deidara. For your sake, I suggest that you shut up."

Deidara looked around, and nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder. She unconsciously drew out a kunai, and turned to face her attacker.

It was konan.

"Oh." Sakura gasped, putting away the weapon. Konan smiled down at the kunoichi.

"Leader-sama wants to speak to you."

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Yay! This chapter is longer!

Please, please review. Even it is just one word, I want to hear what you guys think about it so far, and what you want to see in later chapters.

Thanks for reading, and I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors that may have occurred.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters

Thank you to Fortress of Oblivion, Girlalicious, and Sasori_is_awesome for reviewing. I really appreciate it!

Now, here is the next chapter…

* * *

Sakura found herself being led into a dark room. It took a moment for her eyes to get used to the light. Once they did, she subconsciously stepped back. In front of her was a man… well, the shadow of a man.

He motioned for her to step closer.

The girl did, warily. So this was the leader of the Akatsuki. This was the man that Konoha strove to capture.

"Sakura Haruno." He stated, in a cold, emotionless voice. She nodded numbly, unsure of what to say, or do. From what she had heard, the leader was dark and sadistic, and showed no mercy. Would he let her live?

"I understand that you are to be the Akatsuki's new medic …is that so?"

"Yes, sir." Sakura's voice was barely above a whisper when she spoke.

"You will be part of the Akatsuki for a few months. That will be your trial period. If you pass, then you will become a full-fledged member."

Sakura took a moment to let the information set in. She did not dare ask what would happen if she failed…the response was clear. She had to fight for her life the first few months of her stay there. Otherwise, she would be…as Sasori put it…disposed of.

"Yes, sir." Her voice was more confident this time. She would not fail. She would not be weak any more.

That confidence began to crumble as she walked out of the chamber. Some of the members were already there, glaring at her, making it clear that she was not accepted yet. Among them were two that she had not seen yet, but knew enough about.

Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha.

Her expression hardened as she watched the raven-haired prodigy turn idly towards her.

"Who's this?"

"New medic." Deidara scowled at the Uchiha, his eyes dark.

"Ah." Itachi responded, turning back towards his partner. Sakura felt something clench at her stomach. That man was the reason Sasuke left. He was the one that hunted down Naruto. If anyone was her enemy in the Akatsuki, it would be Itachi Uchiha. Inside, she was seething with hatred, but she let none of that show…instead, she bowed respectfully, and even forced herself to smile.

"Uchiha-san."

The man looked towards her with blank red eyes. "Haruno Sakura." He muttered, recognizing her. Kisame grinned at the two, which caused Sakura to shudder.

"You know her?"

"She was on the same team as my foolish little brother." Itachi stated, turning around, and walking towards his room. Kisame followed, leaving Sakura in silence.

_Sasuke was not foolish!_ The pink haired girl closed her eyes, trying to recall how Sasuke was. His intense onyx eyes used to pierce through her, and she used to feel faint whenever he spoke. He was, in her opinion, perfect. Then, he left, and took her heart with him. In her anguish, she turned to Tsunade-hime, in hopes of getting stronger…in hopes of getting Sasuke back.

She should have hated the boy. He took away her love, her sanity, and her best friend. It was because of him that she had killed the two guards stationed at the edge of the village. It was because of him that she was forced to leave, and was demoted to the level of missing-nin.

Yet, she couldn't hate him. Because, despite all that he did to her…she still loved him. And she still thought that they had a chance. _First, I need to get out of this damned organization._ That would be hard, though, considering the levels of the others there. They all were, in their own ways, geniuses. They would not hold back if she did try to escape.

She began walking back to the place Konan pointed out as her room. The woman was already there, straightening out the bed.

"Ah, Sakura-chan!" Konan greeted her, smiling.

Sakura bowed. "Konan-san."

"Konan." The woman corrected her. "You have been assigned a team."

"Oh, really?" _Not Uchiha's…please…_ Sakura looked at Konan expectantly, her green eyes full of worry.

Konan laughed. "It's not that bad, Sakura-chan. You will be joining Sasori and Deidara's team, at least until the trial period is over. I trust that you have met them already?"

"Yes. Umm, will I be wearing the cloak?"

"Of course!" Konan picked up a folded piece of black material. "Try it on."

Sakura nodded, and pulled on the cloak. It fit perfectly. A small tremor ran through her as she looked at herself in a mirror next to the bed.

She had never imagined that she would be wearing an Akatsuki cloak. Only now did the realization hit her that there was no turning back. She was part of the Akatsuki, for good. Her brow furrowed slightly at the thought of it... how could she stand there so calmly while betraying her friends?

Konan, on the other hand, was overjoyed. "Perfect." She sighed. "Now try to get some rest…tomorrow will probably be a long day for you."

At that, the woman left, and Sakura fell down onto the bed. Only then did she realize that she actually was tired. She let her eyes close, and she drifted off into a troubled, restless sleep.

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REVIEW!! Reviews help a lot, so please take ten seconds to type something up.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sakura's new position in the Akatsuki will call for more SasoSaku moments in the future, although their actual relationship will take a while to build up.

Do you think that I made Sakura too OC?

Again, please review,

-Yuki-chan-


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Thank you to Belle Sharingan and GoldenGrimoire for reviewing!

The next chapter…

* * *

A musty smell filled Sakura's nose, as she slowly sat up. As if seeing things for the first time, she looked around in shock, her eyes scanning the surroundings. Again, she took in the white room, every detail of it. She noted that the paint was chipping slightly, and frowned on that fact. If she were to live there, then the room would have to be more well-kept. It was clean enough, though, and livable.

Groaning, the pink-haired girl forced herself out of bed. She was still wearing her clothes from the night before, having no other changes of clothing. The most she could do was to pull on the Akatsuki cloak, and cover up the wrinkled garments. Upon doing so, she stepped out, into a darker hallway.

"Sakura-chan!" A female voice called out to her. She turned around, to face Konan.

"Uhh. Do you know where the bathroom is?" Sakura questioned, before Konan could say anything else.

"Down the hallway, in the front."

"Thanks." The rosette smiled at the other woman, and headed off in the direction described.

Once she had finished making herself look acceptable, Sakura returned back to her bedroom, unsure of what to do. What was she to do? The leader hadn't assigned any missions, and she didn't know anyone well enough to strike up a conversation with them. She never realized that life in the Akatsuki would be so boring. Sighing, she sprawled herself out on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her mind began to wander back to Konoha. What were her friends doing at that moment? Did they miss her as much as she missed them? Or did they just forget about her...regarding her as no more than a distant shadow. Closing her eyes, Sakura tried to remember what their faces looked like. A blurry image of Naruto flashed in her mind. She felt herself smiling slightly, remembering the antics of the energetic blonde. Another, darker image also appeared. Upon his face was an ever-familiar scowl, and his eyes shone with an almost unbearable intensity. Sasuke.

The realization dawned upon her that she still believed that he was good, that he could love her as much as she loved him. She would never stop believing that. She would always love him.

Now that she was in the Akatsuki, she would be wandering around the different regions more often. Chances were that she would run into some of Orochimaru's people. Chances were that Sasuke would be among them. If that happened, she promised herself that she would force him to listen. That she would bring him back to Konoha, or at least go with him, and leave the Akatsuki. Anything would be better that being in the organisation.

Standing up, Sakura decided that she would talk to the other ninjas in her team. She needed to become familiar with their techniques, in case she needed to fight them to go join Sasuke. So, she left the small room, and veered towards that which Konan showed her as being Deidara's.

Upon entering, Sakura was immediatley struck by the simplicity of the whole space. Really, the only decorations were small clay animals that rested on an old wooden table. Other than that, the only furniture was a bed.

"Who's there?" Deidara mumbled, getting up from his seat on the floor.

"Sakura."She responded.

"Ah." A white clay bird emerged from his hand, and flew to the table. The blonde straightened himself up, and averted all his attention to her. A grin spread across his face as he eyed her. "You're wearing the cloak."

She shrugged. "What else is there to wear?"

"Good point." He nodded, sitting down on the bed, still looking at her, expectant of something.

A silence filled the space between them for a moment, before the blond Akatsuki member turned back to his work. Sakura, not knowing what more to say, spun around, and left the room. Upon exiting the small space, she sighed.

"Well, that was helpful."

Suddenly, a sinister presence appeared behind her. Cool air brushed against the skin on her exposed neck. She dared not turn around, for fear of what she might see. He was annoyed, she could feel his negative energy. And they were alone...

"Haruno Sakura." All previous politeness faded away from his voice, and was replaced by a harsh, infuriated tone.

"What do you want?" She demanded, astonished by how brave she sounded, especially under the circumstances.

"Did you notice anything different about me?" He sounded like an adult scolding a young child, emmitting nuances of impatience.

Sakura was unsure of how to answer. She had noticed something different, in fact, something very different. He was human, and it was her fault!

"Sorry about that." She muttured, dreading his response.

"Sorry?" His voice became dangerously low. "You destroy all I have worked for, and all that you can say is 'sorry'?" She could sense him step closer to her. She was cornered. The only way out was to smash through the wall behind her, but that would waste chakra, and the Akatsuki would have even more reason to hate her. Gulping, the girl looked up at him.

"Look... It's over now, it's in the past. Please, can't we just forget about it?"

"Damn it, how can I forget?" He spat angrily, narrowing his eyes.

Sakura looked down, unsure of what to say. Quite evidently, he hated her. Maybe it would have been better to be on the same team as Itachi Uchiha. At least the emotionless Sharingan-wielder seemed to have nothing against her. Sasori, on the other hand, had everything against her. She had almost killed him, and had taken away his immortality.

"Are you going to kill me?" Her voice became considerably meeker. She dared glance back up.

He chuckled dangerously.

"Killing you would be too easy. You don't deserve to die."

With that, he spun around and disappeared down the hallway, leaving Sakura alone once more, frightened, and unsure of herself.

* * *

Well, the chapter didn't turn out quite as long as I would have wanted it to, but I had a terrible case of writer's block, so I couldn't think of much to put down.

Thanks for reading!

REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Please, please, please review. I really need to get some feedback on how I'm doing!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Now, the next chapter...

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Sakura remained frozen in place, even after he was gone. All she could think about were his forboding words.

_"Killing you would be too easy."_

She wished that she had said something to him, but he left as suddenly as he came. Anyway, she was unsure if she could have spoken. Her whole body was numb with fear.

After a few minutes, the pink-haired girl breathed in deeply, and took a tentative step backwards, into someone. She jumped slightly, fear coursing through her.

"A bit jumpy, aren't you?" She heard a deep voice speak from behind her.

"Eh? Oh, sorry." The girl turned around, and faced Deidara, who looked incredulous.

"Hardly the fearless kunoichi I expected, un." He mused, his grey-blue eye piercing through her. He knew why Sasori hated her... but he seemed to be taking her side, instead of that of his long-time partner. That fact seemed strange to her.

"What do you expect me to do?" She snapped back, stepping forward.

The blonde shrugged, and crossed his arms, the same aggravating smile on his visage. "I suppose that Danna can get frightening when he's irritated. And he has every right to want to kill you. I would feel the same, were I in his position."

"What are you getting at?" Sakura muttured, not comforted by his words the least bit.

Deidara was cut short by a loud noise coming from his room. He snarled something under his breath, and strode down the hallway. The sound of yelling and something breaking cut the silence that followed.

"I'm sorry, Senpai! I...I didn't know any better. I just wanted to see the pretty clay birds get bigger, and I... I.."

"YOU EXPLODED HALF MY ROOM, YOU MORON!!!!!!!"

"Does that mean that we can't go to the ramen shop later?"

"Get OUT!!!!!!"

"Okay."

A tall man jumped into the hallway. His appearances were certainly... different, for an orange mask covered his face, allowing only one eye to show. It bothered Sakura slightly- the fact that she was unable to see his features. He seemed to be hiding something. And yet, all of the Akatsuki members appeared to hide their past, their identity. Had he done something that terrible, something which made him afraid to even show his features?

Her thoughts were cut short by an angry Deidara storming after the man. "You're going to pay for this, un."

"Deidara… figures. I can't get five minutes of silence before you start yelling at Tobi for something."

Sakura froze again as a third figure appeared in the dimly lit hallway.

"Hi, other senpai!" The masked man, Tobi, greeted Sasori cheerfully. "Deidara-senpai's mad at me." He announced sadly.

"I can tell." Sasori glanced up at Deidara with a questioning expression. "Can't you handle things more quietly?"

"Hn." Deidara turned around, not responding for once.

Unfortunately, the silence that followed gave Sasori the opportunity to notice the pink-haired girl standing at the other end of the hallway. The two locked eyes for an agonizing second, before he looked away.

Oddly enough, Sakura could sense very little spite in his gaze. The bored expression that he had before was back on his visage. Actually, she felt no emotion coming from him… which was very strange indeed, considering his violent outburst just minutes before. _So, around others, he makes it seem as if there is nothing wrong. Apparently, I need to stay on alert at all times. Especially if I can't see what he is doing. _She stepped back a little, and averted her gaze over to Deidara, who was glaring at Tobi with terrifying intensity.

"You have three seconds. Three…two…" Somehow, the expression on Deidara's face gave Sakura the impression that he wasn't fooling around. He still seemed genuinely annoyed with the other member.

"Waaa!!! Don't let him kill me!!!" Tobi jumped up, and sprinted out of sight.

Sasori looked downwards, a slight smile on his features. "Would you have killed him?"

"Maimed for life, probably. But I don't think that leader-sama would be too happy if I killed another member, un." Deidara answered frankly, revealing the lack of affection that he held for his other partner.

"Ah." Sasori looked at Sakura once more. "I see we have a spy amongst us."

Sakura shrank back slightly as both criminals turned their full attention on her. But she refused to let herself back down any more than that. "Since when was walking down the hallway illegal?" Her strong tone masked the growing amount of worry inside of her.

Deidara closed his eyes, unsure of what to expect. Would Sasori despise her even more for he blatant display of disrespect? If so, then he didn't really want to see what was to happen next.

The puppet-master's response, though, startled both him and Sakura...

* * *

Nyuu!!! I hate writer's block. Sorry for taking so long to update. I'll try to do it sooner next time :)

Please, please review. All responses are greatly appreciated.

~Yuki-chan


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